Colchicine, chemical name (−)-N-[(7S, 12aS)-1,2,3,10-tetramethoxy-9-oxo-5,6,7,9-tetrahydrobenzo[a]heptalen-7-yl]-acetamide, is an alkaloid found in extracts of Colchicum autumnale, Gloriosa superba, and other plants. It is a microtubule-disrupting agent used in the treatment of conditions that may be treated, relieved or prevented with anti-inflammatory treatment.
Colchicine is well recognized as a valid therapy in acute flares of gouty arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), Behçet's disease. It has also been used to treat many inflammatory disorders prone to fibrosis. In the recent past, colchicine has been proposed to be effective in therapy in cardiovascular diseases.
In particular, colchicine has been proposed as a first treatment option for recurrent pericarditis (class I indication) and optional for acute pericarditis (class IIa indication) in the 2004 European guidelines on the management of pericardial diseases (Maisch et al., Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Pericardial Diseases, Eur Heart J., 2004, 25, 916-928).
Imazio et al. (Circulation, 2005, 112 (13), 2012-2016) showed that colchicine was effective for the treatment and the prevention of recurrent pericarditis in a prospective, randomized, open-label designed study of 120 patients with a first episode of acute pericarditis (idiopathic, viral, postpericardiotomy syndromes, and connective tissue diseases), who were randomly assigned to conventional treatment with aspirin or conventional treatment plus colchicine (1.0 to 2.0 mg for the first day and then 0.5 to 1.0 mg/day for 3 months). The primary end point was recurrence rate, which was significantly reduced from 32.3% down to 10.7% at 18 months in the colchicine group (p=0.004).
Further, the same group showed that colchicine could be efficient after conventional treatment failure to manage acute pericarditis (Imazio at al., Arch Intern Med, 2005, 165 (17), 1987-91). In a prospective, randomized, open-label design, 84 consecutive patients with a first episode of recurrent pericarditis were randomly assigned to receive conventional treatment with aspirin alone or conventional treatment plus colchicine (1.0-2.0 mg the first day and then 0.5-1.0 mg/d for 6 months). The primary end point was the recurrence rate, which was significantly decreased in the colchicine group (actuarial rates at 18 months were 24.0% vs 50.6% with conventional treatment).
It has also been shown that colchicine is effective for secondary prevention of recurrent pericarditis Imazio et al., Ann. Intern. Med., 2011, 155 (7), 409-14). Colchicine has also been proposed to reduce postpericardiotomy reactions revealed as pericarditis (Imazio et al., Am. Heart J., 2011, 162 (3), 527-532; Meurin and Tabet, Arch. Cardiovasc. Dis., 2011, 104 (8-9), 425-427).
Colchicine for the treatment of post-pericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) was tested for the first time in a preliminary prospective, open-label, randomized trial of colchicine (1.5 mg/day) compared with placebo beginning on the third post-operative day in 163 patients who underwent cardiac surgery (Finkelstein et al., Herz, 2002 27, 791-194).
The effectiveness of colchicine for the prevention of PPS has also been shown in a multicentre, double-blind, randomized trial, in which 360 patients (mean age 65.7+12.3 years, 66% males), 180 in each treatment arm, were randomized to receive placebo or colchicine (1.0 mg twice daily for the first day followed by a maintenance dose of 0.5 mg twice daily for 1 month in patients ≥70 kg, and halved doses for patients, 70 kg or intolerant to the highest dose) on the third post-operative day (Imazio et al., European Heart Journal, 2010, 31, 2749-2754).
In patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease, the diseased vessel wall is subject to injurious forces that promote plaque build-up and instability that may lead to coronary occlusion resulting in heart attack, ischemic stroke and sudden death. The response to injury within the diseased vessel is dependent on the architecture and content of atherosclerotic plaques. Lipid-rich plaques with a neo-vascular base are particularly susceptible to the effect of injury, which may leave them vulnerable to neutrophil infiltration. Neutrophils that enter the interstitial space may become activated upon exposure to the plaque contents, inciting an aggressive inflammatory response that may accelerate plaque instability increasing the risk of plaque enlargement and rupture and hence increasing the risk of clinical events.
Despite routine use of anti-platelet and statin therapy, patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease continue to be at risk of cardiovascular events, possibly because these treatments fail to target some of the inflammatory pathways implicated in the disease.
A number of additional treatments exist for the prevention or reduction in risk of coronary heart disease, including: antiplatelet agents (besides aspirin), anticoagulants, angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs); aldosterone receptor antagonists (ARAB); beta-blockers calcium channel blockers and/or nitrates.
However, many of these treatments are recommended for acute conditions and do not address or provide for a long-term reduction in cardiovascular events in patients with clinically stable atherosclerotic vascular disease.
The present invention seeks to overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more of the deficiencies of the prior art mentioned above, or to provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.